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<h1>Getting Setup on Windows</h1>

<p>
This document briefly describes how to get your Microsoft Windows computer set
up to create your own Gameboy Advance (GBA) and Nintendo DS (NDS) programs
using Spritely and devkitPro.
</p>

<ul><li>
<strong>Spritely</strong> is a Windows application that can be used to draw sprites and
other graphics for the GBA/NDS game that you're creating. It can also generate working
sample code based on the graphics that you created.
</li></ul>

<p>
But Spritely requires a few additional tools to be installed:
</p>

<ul>
<li>
<strong>devkitPro</strong> is a toolchain (compiler, linker, libraries and other tools)
that takes the source code from Spritely and builds a working "ROM file" that can then
be run in an emulator or on real hardware.
</li>
<li>
<strong>VisualBoyAdvance</strong> is GBA emulator that allows you to run your newly created
ROM file on your computer.
</li>
</ul>

<h2>General System Requirements</h2>

<p>Windows XP (SP2) or Vista with .NET Framework 2.0 </p>

<p>First of all, make sure you have the latest security patches from
<a href="http://www.update.microsoft.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.update.microsoft.com/</a>.
</p>

<p>If you don't already have the .Net Framework 2.0 installed on your computer, it can also
be installed from update.microsoft.com. Unlike the security and high-priority patches that
are selected automatically, the .Net Framework is an optional install that you will need to
select manually before starting the installation. If you don't see it in the list of updates,
then you may already have it installed.
</p>

<p>Alternately, you can download the
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&amp;displaylang=en" rel="nofollow">Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)</a>
onto your computer and install from this file. After downloading, you will have a 22MB file called
<tt>dotnetfx.exe</tt> on your computer. Run this .exe to install the .Net Framework.
</p>

<h2>devkitPro</h2>

<p>
This is the development toolchain that is used to compile your source code into an
executable binary. Without this package installed, you will not be able to build
complete GBA/NDS programs (although you can still draw sprites and backgrounds).
</p>

<p>
Homepage: <a href="http://www.devkitpro.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.devkitpro.org/</a>
</p>

<p>
For Windows, there is an installer which will do all of the setup work for you:<br/>
<ul>
<li>Download: <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/devkitpro/files/Automated%20Installer/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/devkitpro/files/Automated%20Installer/</a></li>
<li>Direct link: <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/devkitpro/files/Automated%20Installer/devkitProUpdater-1.5.0.exe/download" rel="nofollow">http://sourceforge.net/projects/devkitpro/files/Automated%20Installer/devkitProUpdater-1.5.0.exe/download</a></li>
</ul>
To use this installer follow these instructions:
</p>

<ul>
<li>Download the latest version of the "devkitPro Updater".</li>
<li>Double-click the "devkitProUpdater-1.5.0.exe" application to start the installation. It will first look for updates. Click "Next &gt;" to begin.</li>
<li>Select "Download and install/install from downloaded files" and click "Next &gt;".</li>
<li>Select "Remove downloaded files" and click "Next &gt;". It's OK to keep the downloaded files if you wish, but there's no need for them.</li>
<li>Do a "Full" install by leaving all the checkboxes checked. Click "Next &gt;".</li>
<li>The default destination folder is "c:\devkitpro" which is fine. Click "Next &gt;".</li>
<li>"Choose Start Menu Folder". Whatever. Click "Next &gt;".</li>
<li>Wait... It will now spend some time installing all of the files.</li>
<li>Click "Next &gt;" one last time and finally "Finish".</li>
</ul>

<p>
When the installation is complete, verify that you have a bunch of new files and directories
installed in your <tt>c:\devkitpro</tt> directory.
</p>

<p><strong><i>Optional:</i></strong></p>

<p>
Now you should verify that your environment variables were set up properly (otherwise
you won't be able to build). If the installation worked properly, then you will only
need to verify that these variables were created. But there's a chance they weren't
created (depending on your system's security settings), so it's a good idea to
double-check.
</p>

<ul>
<li>Open the "Start" menu and select the "Control Panel".</li>
<li>Double-click the "System" icon. A "System Properties" dialog will appear.</li>
<li>Select the "Advanced" tab. Near the bottom of this tab will be an "Environment Variables"
	button. Click it.</li>
<li>You should see the following variables/values (either in the top "User variables"
	or bottom "System variables" box):</li>
<pre class="prettyprint">DEVKITARM = /c/devkitPro/devkitARM
DEVKITPRO = /c/devkitPro</pre>
<li>If you don't see those variables, then add them to the "User variables" (at the top)
	by clicking the "New" button and adding them one at a time. Note that there are a few
	other DEVKIT variables as well, but the 2 listed above are the only ones that matter.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>Finally, make sure that your "Path" environment variable contains <tt>c:\devkitPro\msys\bin</tt>.</li>
<ul>
	<li>If you don't have a "Path" variable, then add a new one to the "User variables" that
	contains this string. </li>
	<li>If you already have a "Path" variable but it's missing this string, then add the
	following string at the beginning <tt>c:\devkitPro\msys\bin;</tt> - note the semicolon
	at the end to separate your new string from the old Path contents. </li>
</ul>
</ul>

<h2>VisualBoy Advance</h2>

<p>
VBA is the most popular GBA emulator. An emulator is a program that runs on a computer and
pretends to be another device. This will allow us to test out our GBA/NDS programs on our
development computer.
</p>

<p>
Homepage: <a href="http://vba.ngemu.com/" rel="nofollow">http://vba.ngemu.com/</a>
</p>

<p>
Download page: <a href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=63889" rel="nofollow">http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=63889</a>
(Direct link (<a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/vba/VisualBoyAdvance-1.7.2.zip" rel="nofollow">http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/vba/VisualBoyAdvance-1.7.2.zip</a> Win32])
</p>

<p>
Installing VisualBoy Advance:
</p>

<ul>
<li>Create a <tt>c:\gamedev</tt> folder on your drive.</li>
<li>Go to the download page listed above and download the "VisualBoyAdvance-1.7.2.zip" file
	to your computer. Save the file in the <tt>c:\gamedev</tt> folder you created.</li>
<li>Extract the contents of the zip file by right-clicking on the file and selecting
	"Extract all..."</li>
<li>You will now have a "VisualBoyAdvance-1.7.2" folder in your <tt>c:\gamedev</tt> folder.</li>
</ul>

<p>
You can run VBA by launching <tt>c:\gamedev\VisualBoyAdvance-1.7.2\VisualBoyAdvance.exe</tt>
</p>

<h2>Spritely</h2>

<p>
Spritely is a program that allows you to create your own basic sprite and background graphics.
It was designed to make it easy to create graphics for the GBA and DS and was created especially
for this programming class.
</p>

<p>
Download the latest version of Spritely:
</p>

<ul>
<li>Create a <tt>c:\gamedev</tt> folder on your drive if you don't already have one.</li>
<li>If you already have an earlier version of Spritely, remove it now by deleting
	the <tt>c:\gamedev\Spritely</tt> folder and all its contents.</li>
<li>Download the latest version of from the
	<a href="http://code.google.com/p/spritely/downloads/list" rel="nofollow">download list</a>.
	Save the file in the <tt>c:\gamedev</tt> folder you created.</li>
<li>Extract the contents of the zip file by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Extract all..."</li>
<li>You will now have a "Spritely" folder in your <tt>c:\gamedev</tt> folder.</li>
</ul>

<p>
You can run Spritely by launching <tt>c:\gamedev\Spritely\Spritely.exe</tt>
</p> 
 

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